McAuliffe Blogger Conference Call

by: Aimee Fausser

Wed Jan 07, 2009 at 04:34:13 PM EST

Terry McAuliffe at the Democratic National Convention. Photo by Kenton Ngo

Terry McAuliffe invited bloggers onto a conference call this morning, which I thought was great (though I am a little partial, as a blogger). He seemed enthusiastic and full of energy, and when asked by fellow blogger Vivian Paige what he saw as his greatest weakness, said that he was impatient, wanting to get things done.

Some of what he had to talk about:

His business background, including starting a business at 14 and becoming Chairman of a Federal Bank at 30.

That he has lived in Virginia for 17 years, as well as talking about his family a bit.

Terry discussed education, saying that we need a pre-K program that is accessible to all as well as a way to retain teachers, thinking of where we want to be 10 to 20 years from today instead of just today.

Transportation/Energy--Terry said that we need to implement better transportation such as a high speed rail system for the state, as well as a need for Virginia to take a lead in renewable energy and green jobs. In particular, he mentioned putting wind farms in the Atlantic.

The Economy--Terry believes that we need to create jobs in order to grow our economy. He said that he believes in working more with localities to get the best ideas, not just the ones that are in Richmond.

Healthcare--Terry said that we need to come up with a solution to healthcare problems quickly. He mentioned that we need to start with prevention and target childhood obesity.

Terry said that we need to work on all these issues because we want people to stay in Virginia and raise families here--otherwise, our economy doesn't have much hope of getting better.